Southern Maine Cruises Past Maine Maritime 19-1

RJunior Lauren Lessard had three goals and four assists in the Huskies win over Maine Maritime Thursday afternoon. Photo is courtesy of University of Southern Maine

GORHAM, Maine -- Juniors Sam Campobasso (Buxton, Maine/Bonny Eagle) and Lauren Lessard (Lewiston, Maine/Kents Hill) combined for seven goals and six assists as the University of Southern Maine Huskies cruised past the visiting Maine Maritime Academy Mariners 19-1 in a non-conference women's lacrosse match Thursday afternoon at Hannaford Field.

            The win was the second straight for the Huskies, and improved their overall record to 3-6.  The Mariners, playing with only 12 players, remain winless after 11 games.

            Lessard led all scorers with seven points on three goals and four assists while Campobasso
tallied four goals and dished out two assists.  Senior Sarah Pelligrinelli (Southington, Conn.), sophomore Tayla Smedberg (Oxford, Maine/Oxford Hills) and rookie Kenzie Kidder (Lyman, Maine/Massabesic) scored three goals apiece.  Rookie goalie Miriam Wood (Wakefield, Mass.) earned her first career win stopping two shots.

            Senior Rachel Redles (Coopersburg, Penn./Moravian Academy) scored the lone Mariner goal.  Freshmen Sierra James (Campton, N.H./Plymouth Regional) and Christina Wilson (East Granby, Conn./North Catholic) split the goaltending chores for the Mariners.  Each played a half and combined for 11 saves.

            The Huskies scored the first 10 goals of the game in the opening 14:10 as Campobasso found the net four times.  Kidder contributed two markers in the run converting a pair of free-position attempts 43 seconds apart.

            Redles snapped the run of USM goals scoring her 12th goal of the season with 5:59 left until halftime.  Lessard would net her first goal of the game with 2:54 remaining to give the Huskies an 11-1 lead at the halftime break.

            Pelligrinelli ignited a string of eight second-half goals by the Huskies converting on a pair free-position attempts before the half was two-and-a-half minutes old.  The Huskies defense held the Mariners without a shot attempt in the second half.

            Freshman Hannah LaSalle (Humarock, Mass./Marshfield) helped give the Huskies a huge advantage in draw controls (20-2) snagging 12, one shy of the school single-game record.  Junior Heather Everett (Waterboro, Maine/Massabesic) led all players scooping up seven ground balls.  Southern Maine finished with a 37-3 edge in shots and a 20-13 margin in ground balls.

            Southern Maine will travel to Keene State College on Saturday (1:00 p.m.) for a Little East Conference match.  Maine Maritime heads to Castleton University for a North Atlantic Conference on Saturday (12:00 p.m.).